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Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman
"It may seem a fine thing in song or story to be ankle-deep in the blood of your enemies but in reality it's slippery, smells bad and is nearly impossible to get out of your socks afterwards." From the diaries of Engvyr Gunnarson
Engvyr Gunnarson is still young as his people reckon things, but he is already a veteran of the elite Dwarven rifle regiments and a Ranger of the Mountain Guards. Now he wants nothing more than to make a place for himself, perhaps settle down and raise a family. But when a new enemy rises in the North he finds himself at the center of the conflict, with not merely the freedom of his people but the fate of all of humanity hanging in the balance... and the habit of heroism is a hard one to break.In Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman magic, science and technology work hand-in-hand to create a new kind of fantasy world. Told with humor and humanity, it is a story of sweeping events seen from a 'ground-level' perspective by people living in and helping to shape the unique history of their world."Impressive work, and great fun!" -- Greg Bear, Author of Hull 03 and The Forge of God
Engvyr Gunnarson is still young as his people reckon things, but he is already a veteran of the elite Dwarven rifle regiments and a Ranger of the Mountain Guards. Now he wants nothing more than to make a place for himself, perhaps settle down and raise a family. But when a new enemy rises in the North he finds himself at the center of the conflict, with not merely the freedom of his people but the fate of all of humanity hanging in the balance... and the habit of heroism is a hard one to break.In Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman magic, science and technology work hand-in-hand to create a new kind of fantasy world. Told with humor and humanity, it is a story of sweeping events seen from a 'ground-level' perspective by people living in and helping to shape the unique history of their world."Impressive work, and great fun!" -- Greg Bear, Author of Hull 03 and The Forge of God
- GenresFantasy
520 pages, Paperback
First published February 26, 2013
25 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Michael Tinker Pearce
16 books28 followersMichael Tinker Pearce is a world-reknowned sword and knife maker, a student of Historic European Martial Arts. He is married to his co-author Linda Pearce and lives in Seattle with far too many dogs and cats. He is currently involved with the Foreworld Saga and co-wrote 'The Shield Maiden' from that series. The couple have released their first full length novel, 'Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman,' and just released a novella in the series, 'Diaries of a Dwarven Rifleman: Rear Guard' which is available on Amazon and Smashwords. They have just released their second novel, "Rage of Angels," a military Science-Fiction novel.
He currently blogs at Michaeltinkerpearce.com
He currently blogs at Michaeltinkerpearce.com
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 30, 2014
This review orginally appeared on my blog.
I would tell the authors two things, 1: please hire a copyeditor, and 2: please just tell me a freakin’ story already!
The first issue (the dire need of a copyeditor) comes from a number of problems in the book. To begin with, there’s this simple rule: “[use a comma] when “and” is being used to coordinate two independent clauses. An independent clause—also known as a main clause—is a group of words that has a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a sentence.”
It’s not that hard, but the authors just don’t seem to grasp it.
There’s also the fact that you use a comma after an introductory clause. You don’t have to know the rule by its description to understand that the following is a bit of a mouthful without the needed comma:
(By the way, I won’t even start in on the inconsistent use of Oxford commas.)
Then there was the problem where the authors couldn’t decide whether to capitalize “aunt” or not. I lost count of the times the words “his Aunt” were used, only to be followed a few paragraphs later by “his aunt.” (Which is the correct one.) The same problem occurred with the word Goblin/goblin.
These things may seem trivial, but when almost every page has missing commas and capitalization problems, I was constantly being yanked out of the story.
Sadly, though, there isn’t much of a story to be yanked out of, which is my biggest complaint. I could read a run-on sentence that was one hundred pages long if the story was interesting. I think I only noticed all the editing problems because I didn’t have anything else in the book to keep my attention.
I understand the authors are writing an epic fantasy. Heck, it’s practically in the title. But one doesn’t create an epic by simply making it long and taking forever for the story to actually go anywhere. An epic is vast and sweeping, not merely telling the reader everything the people packed.
Guess what. I don’t care. Unless that spool of strong thread and bag of salt are going to save someone’s life Macgyver-style on the next page, I . . . don’t . . . care.
The pace of the story was horrendous. Things would be happening, adventure was there! . . . and then the characters have to sit in camp for a week because someone broke a leg. But don’t worry; every single day of that week is going to be described in painstaking detail. Did he shoot a rabbit, or not? Did “his Aunt” pick these herbs but not those? Fear not! All these questions will be answered.
This may be a bit of exaggeration (not much), but that’s how it felt to read this book. Seven chapters in and I felt like I had been reading for weeks. Oh, wait, I had. Because I kept putting the book down, reading another book and two novellas before I finished six chapters of this one. Nothing made me care about the protagonist because he just watched things going on around him.
What did he think about while watching? Well, after a painfully long description of how rock slabs were lifted to be a roof, we get this doozy:
Wow.
I wish I could say this was the only time the book seemed to be an epic fantasy hidden in a Life Lessons Primer, but alas, no.
Didactic much? But don’t fear, father dwarf! Your son will have completely learned that lesson within a few pages when he comes to the aid of a Goblin!
Leaving the missing introductory clause comma aside, this sentence brings me to my next problem with the storytelling in this book: made up spellings of words to (I assume) remind the reader, “Remember: this is a FANTASY! Don’t they just talk funny in fantasy world?!”
He stripped off his great-cote.
Great-cote.
Cote.
Not coat. Cote. WHY?!
There’s also the constant use of the word hame instead of home. WHY?! (Since writing this, I have looked hame up and found it is the Scots language word for home. So no, they weren’t making that up, but the book wasn’t written in the Scots language, soooo . . . . Oh, and while we’re on the subject, a cote is a shed for pigeons. So there’s that.)
Finally, pyes instead of pies. Oh, look, “his Aunt” is going to make Travel Pyes to take on the journey!
And that’s where I stopped. Only 18% of the way into the book (Chapter 7 of 36), and I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t read another sentence. I rarely put down a book, because usually I have to know what happens. In this case though, I just don’t care. I mean, I guess from the title he becomes a rifleman, but nothing about him or his life in those first seven chapters made me care at all.
If I hadn’t been given a free copy of this book to review, I wouldn’t have even made it that far. Pyes was just the final straw in a haystack of problems with this book.
I would tell the authors two things, 1: please hire a copyeditor, and 2: please just tell me a freakin’ story already!
The first issue (the dire need of a copyeditor) comes from a number of problems in the book. To begin with, there’s this simple rule: “[use a comma] when “and” is being used to coordinate two independent clauses. An independent clause—also known as a main clause—is a group of words that has a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a sentence.”
It’s not that hard, but the authors just don’t seem to grasp it.
There was an ugly edge to their laughter and as he neared them he could see they were shoving someone back and forth between them.
There’s also the fact that you use a comma after an introductory clause. You don’t have to know the rule by its description to understand that the following is a bit of a mouthful without the needed comma:
As they continued around the shoulder of the mountain the High road descended down a long ramp to the valley floor.
(By the way, I won’t even start in on the inconsistent use of Oxford commas.)
Then there was the problem where the authors couldn’t decide whether to capitalize “aunt” or not. I lost count of the times the words “his Aunt” were used, only to be followed a few paragraphs later by “his aunt.” (Which is the correct one.) The same problem occurred with the word Goblin/goblin.
These things may seem trivial, but when almost every page has missing commas and capitalization problems, I was constantly being yanked out of the story.
Sadly, though, there isn’t much of a story to be yanked out of, which is my biggest complaint. I could read a run-on sentence that was one hundred pages long if the story was interesting. I think I only noticed all the editing problems because I didn’t have anything else in the book to keep my attention.
I understand the authors are writing an epic fantasy. Heck, it’s practically in the title. But one doesn’t create an epic by simply making it long and taking forever for the story to actually go anywhere. An epic is vast and sweeping, not merely telling the reader everything the people packed.
They brought with them some small things that the family might need, odds and ends like a spool of strong thread, some iron needles, a small bag of salt and a box of 14-bore slugs.
Guess what. I don’t care. Unless that spool of strong thread and bag of salt are going to save someone’s life Macgyver-style on the next page, I . . . don’t . . . care.
The pace of the story was horrendous. Things would be happening, adventure was there! . . . and then the characters have to sit in camp for a week because someone broke a leg. But don’t worry; every single day of that week is going to be described in painstaking detail. Did he shoot a rabbit, or not? Did “his Aunt” pick these herbs but not those? Fear not! All these questions will be answered.
This may be a bit of exaggeration (not much), but that’s how it felt to read this book. Seven chapters in and I felt like I had been reading for weeks. Oh, wait, I had. Because I kept putting the book down, reading another book and two novellas before I finished six chapters of this one. Nothing made me care about the protagonist because he just watched things going on around him.
What did he think about while watching? Well, after a painfully long description of how rock slabs were lifted to be a roof, we get this doozy:
Once Engvyr had heard it told it seemed like the easiest thing in the world. He reckoned that a lot of things were like that. A dwarf needed to learn to look at things in different ways when the way that he knew wouldn’t do.
Wow.
I wish I could say this was the only time the book seemed to be an epic fantasy hidden in a Life Lessons Primer, but alas, no.
“So I’ll tell you now don’t ever, ever judge a man solely because of his race. Judge him by his words, his actions and the company he keeps but not by his race.”
Didactic much? But don’t fear, father dwarf! Your son will have completely learned that lesson within a few pages when he comes to the aid of a Goblin!
Without thinking he stripped off his great-cote, threw it over the goblin and stepped between the drover and his victim.
Leaving the missing introductory clause comma aside, this sentence brings me to my next problem with the storytelling in this book: made up spellings of words to (I assume) remind the reader, “Remember: this is a FANTASY! Don’t they just talk funny in fantasy world?!”
He stripped off his great-cote.
Great-cote.
Cote.
Not coat. Cote. WHY?!
There’s also the constant use of the word hame instead of home. WHY?! (Since writing this, I have looked hame up and found it is the Scots language word for home. So no, they weren’t making that up, but the book wasn’t written in the Scots language, soooo . . . . Oh, and while we’re on the subject, a cote is a shed for pigeons. So there’s that.)
Finally, pyes instead of pies. Oh, look, “his Aunt” is going to make Travel Pyes to take on the journey!
And that’s where I stopped. Only 18% of the way into the book (Chapter 7 of 36), and I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t read another sentence. I rarely put down a book, because usually I have to know what happens. In this case though, I just don’t care. I mean, I guess from the title he becomes a rifleman, but nothing about him or his life in those first seven chapters made me care at all.
If I hadn’t been given a free copy of this book to review, I wouldn’t have even made it that far. Pyes was just the final straw in a haystack of problems with this book.
March 26, 2013
Oh my goodness I loved this book. It was the most impressive indie author book I have ever read. The book was full of all the stuff I love, fantasy, adventure, epic war and love. I highly recommend it to everyone!
May 4, 2013
The athors start with a Tolkienesque fantasy setting and take it one step further so it reads like an exciting historical saga. Definitely very well researched - something I wish I could say more often about fantasy books! - and gripping. From the start I rooted for Engvyr and followed his epic story with compassion and recognition so now I'm looking forward to more stories about him.
Alex
Alex
November 13, 2017
I liked this better that the authors' previous book, though this was written first. It's a well-paced little adventure story with likeable relatable characters. LOTS of details about weapons, but given that one of the authors is a weapon-maker, that's to be expected. If I have one complaint, it is that so many of the characters are good and competent; a little failure and incompetence might be nice. Or at least more realistic.
March 24, 2018
The best thing about this book is the immersion. You feel that the universe is a fully-realised place with realistic people and cultures in it. For all that it suffers a little bit by flicking between viewpoints which can feel jerky, especially at the start. Worth reading and I'll definitely be checking out the sequel.
March 22, 2013
Truthfully, I have no idea why I picked this little jewel of a tale up, but it was a good choice. The tale is comprised of many vignettes of Engvyr Gunnarson's life. Forced by circumstances to leave their home and return to the dwarven homeland, Engvyr's family embarks on an long and perilous trek. The events and losses on that journey shape the adult that the young dwarf becomes, molding him into a reluctant hero.
Engvyr never gives in to the casual brutality that characterizes his society, nor does he allow racism to interfere with his understanding of human nature and the basic underlying fact of the races - that ALL the races evolved from a common root - that of humans, and all share a common humanity. Early on he is taught that despite the radical differences in appearance and widely divergent societal differences, all the races of people want the same basic things: enough food for their children, and a safe place to raise them.
Engvyr understands that when a society removes the humanity from an enemy ethnic group, it becomes easy to commit the most extreme atrocities against them, all in the name of whatever cause one is fighting for. Because he understands the underlying truth of this, Engvyr brings compassion to his battles, and a desire to do good.
There is a great deal of Norse mythology woven into this tale, as well as Nordic mores and values. These characters are strong people with great capacities for both love and cruelty.
For those of you who are weapons purists, you will be happy to note that the weapons Engvyr carries are original and scrupulously designed to be both real and fantastic at the same time. It is apparent that the authors have a true knowledge of guns and knives, and weaponry in general. Indeed, +Michael Tinker Pearce is known as the 'Swordgeek' and regularly blogs and gives podcasts on the subject of swords.
All in all, this is an excellent, well written and well thought out book.
May 18, 2013
Since most people will only read the first part of this revue I will start with what I liked. The battles were very well thought out and the author clearly knew his stuff in regards to tactics and weapons. I was impressed with the degree of research and detail that went into this.
But one thing that kept with me throughout was how abrupt everything felt. We have characters falling in love over the corse of paragraphs and huge climactic battles resolving in a few pages. At no point did i ever really feel like anything was earned, things just sort of happened.
And for me that all adds up to a 3 star book.
But one thing that kept with me throughout was how abrupt everything felt. We have characters falling in love over the corse of paragraphs and huge climactic battles resolving in a few pages. At no point did i ever really feel like anything was earned, things just sort of happened.
And for me that all adds up to a 3 star book.
December 11, 2013
There's a very strong western influence here. I mean American, cowboys on the frontier style western influence. Wagon trains, rangers patrolling territory, cavalry action. I would say it's almost more of a western than a fantasy novel. There are a few fantasy elements. A couple brief moments of magic use and monstrous beasties. But they're few and far between.
It does jump over several decades of the main character's life. And it goes from zero to sixty to hit its climax in time to slam on the brakes in an attempt to wrap everything up for the end. But it's a very unique read. And I really enjoyed it for being so different.
It does jump over several decades of the main character's life. And it goes from zero to sixty to hit its climax in time to slam on the brakes in an attempt to wrap everything up for the end. But it's a very unique read. And I really enjoyed it for being so different.
August 1, 2013
stories of a four foot Sharpe. Whilst this is nominally a fantasy novel, the fact it involves dwarves and goblins is really just a minor background setting - it could just as easily be Napoleonic riflemen or colonial Africa, and should be as enjoyable to lovers of those era's historical fiction as to fantasy fans. The authors have clearly put a lot of thought into getting the technicals underlying the world accurate and consistent and seem to be setting up an interesting world to develop further in later books
September 5, 2013
The story was divided into three parts and focused on the adventures of a dwarven main character. Additionally the story revolved around the concept of dwarves and guns rather than the typical sword and shield or axe and shield. Overall it was quite good and offered a number of unique elements I found enjoyable. The setting featured a unique take on the somewhat standard fantasy races and the interactions between the races. I found the story was well paced and offered believable characters.
July 25, 2016
Damn them Goblins
If I'd a thought up these characters I would have written it totally different, of course it would have been totally carp! That's why my name's not on the cover and I am glad that Michael and Linda's is. I really like this book and hope I can see my way into buying more of the Pearce's work.
If I'd a thought up these characters I would have written it totally different, of course it would have been totally carp! That's why my name's not on the cover and I am glad that Michael and Linda's is. I really like this book and hope I can see my way into buying more of the Pearce's work.
May 29, 2013
What a fantastic book from start to finish!
This book has everything ... great writing ... lots of action ...
and my personal favorite ... dwarves with guns!
One of the best that I've read in a long time.
This book has everything ... great writing ... lots of action ...
and my personal favorite ... dwarves with guns!
One of the best that I've read in a long time.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews